Three Charged After Gosport Protest Over Small-Boat Arrival That Never Came
Three people have been charged after anti-migrant protests at a marina in Gosport, Hampshire, on the night of 22 September.
Six people were arrested in total. The protesters had gathered to disrupt the arrival of asylum seekers, people seeking protection in the UK, in the mistaken belief that a small boat was due to land at Gosport, according to The Guardian.
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary named those charged as Shannon Dodds, 32, of Leonard Road in Gosport, Sally Pearson, 31, of Forton Road in Gosport, and Toby Matthews, 33, of Forton Road in Gosport. Dodds faces two counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker, which means striking police or other frontline staff. Pearson is charged with assault by beating of an emergency worker and a racially aggravated public order offence, an offence made more serious by racist language or behaviour. Matthews is charged with common assault of an emergency worker. The force detailed the charges in an official news release titled 'Three charged following incidents in Gosport on 22 September'.
Dodds and Pearson have been remanded in custody, meaning held in jail before trial. They are due to appear at Portsmouth magistrates court on Thursday 24 September. Matthews was bailed. He must appear at the same court on 9 November.
Police also dealt with three other arrested men. A 19-year-old man and a 36-year-old man from Salisbury, arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass, trespass linked to disrupting lawful activity, have been bailed with conditions until 22 December while inquiries continue. A 67-year-old man from Gosport was given a fixed-penalty notice, an on-the-spot fine, for driving without due care and attention. He was also arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and has been bailed with conditions until 22 December.
No small boat arrived at Gosport. The RNLI, the lifeboat charity, transferred the asylum seekers to a Border Force vessel, the agency that enforces border controls, which landed in Dover early on Wednesday.
Police say the gathering followed a social media call by far-right activist Daniel Thomas, who styles himself Danny Tommo, to disrupt the potential arrival. Thomas livestreamed efforts to apprehend small boats crossing the Channel to more than 100,000 followers on Tuesday afternoon. He is facing a police inquiry after using a knife to slash an inflatable dinghy in the Channel while a rescue worker was onboard.
Hundreds of anti-migrant protesters gathered in Gosport in the belief a small boat was due to disembark there. Earlier reporting, treated here as background, said the violence was sparked by the arrival of 120 migrants in a single dinghy, according to the BBC. Sarah Jones told MPs the violence was "intimidating and thuggish".
The broader context here is the speed with which an incorrect landing location produced a policing operation, arrests and remands. A call issued online in the afternoon drew a crowd by night to a marina where no disembarkation was scheduled, while the people being sought were brought ashore at a different port. For officials managing Channel arrivals, the operational question is interception of movement at sea and on shore. For police, it is how livestreamed tracking of boats and rapid mobilisation reshape public order around ports, even when the underlying premise proves false. Court proceedings in Portsmouth and the continuing inquiries through December will establish criminal liability. The policy argument over reception, deterrence and enforcement will continue alongside them.
